Garment hanger for two piece ladies&#39;swimsuit or the like



United States Patent Inventor Walton 8. Crane Los Angeles County, Calif. Appl. No. 829,665 Filed June 2, 1969 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 Assignee Allied Plastics Company Los Angeles, Calif. a corporation of California GARMENT HANGER FOR TWO PIECE LADIESSWIMSUIT OR THE LIKE 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figs.

u.s. cl. Int. Cl. A47j 51/097 Field ofSeai-ch 22 References Cited UNITED-STATES PATENTS D192,280 2/1962 Zuckerman D205,1 13 6/1966 Coon 1,619,992 3/1927 Smith 2,150,869 3/1939 Shafarman 2,191,714 2/1940 Gustin 2.596,7'45 5/1952 Waldman 3,319,850 5/1967 Rosen 223/92 2,149,674 3/1939 Hendrix 223/95 2,387,681 10/1945 Reed et a1. 223/87 2,549,297 4/1951 Dobana 223/88 3,243,087 3/1966 Pulitzer .III 223/87 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-George H. Krizmanich Anorney- Forrest .I. Lilly ABSTRACT: A hanger for one-piece or two-piece womens swimsuits, in the general form of a common coat hanger. A short horizontal bar is provided on the under side of the hanger, in the central region thereof, and supports the crotch of the swimsuit. 1n the case of the trunks of a two-piece suit downwardly and outwardly projecting hooks engage in the waistband thereof, so as to support the trunks in a doubled and space-saving position. The shoulder straps of the upper garment or bra of the two-piece suit are engaged in pairs or recesses formed above and below the hanger, and support the garment high on the hanger, also in a space-saving position. In the case of a one-piece suit, the crotch is suspended as before, the suit hangs doubled, and the shoulder straps are engaged in the aforementioned recesses, the same as those of the bra in the first example, so that the suit then hangs between the crotch bar and the pairs of arm recesses. The suit then again hangs in a relative short vertical distance.

GARMENT HANGER FOR TWO PIECE LADIESSWIMSUIT OR THE LIKE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to garment hangers, and more particularly to a garment hanger of the common type comprised of two curved arms extending oppositely from a hook, especially adapted to hang either a one-piece or twopiece ladies swim outfit, such as an ordinary one-piece suit, or a two-piece suit comprised of a bra, or other upper garment, having shoulder straps, and a lower garment in the nature of trunks, generally without legs, and characterized by a crotch and a waistband.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The warehousing of garments in the garment industry often presents a space problem, It is often desirable to hang certain types of garments from garment hangers in order to preserve them from wrinkling or crushing, and this method of storage is especially uneconomical of space. It is the primary purpose of the present invention to provide a hanger for ladies swimwear according to which the suit is supported on a clothes hanger substantially of the common general form of conventional coat or garment hangers, with minimized space requirements.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, the upper part of a two-piece swimsuit, a bra, for example, is suspended from the two arms of the hanger by inserting its shoulder straps first into slots formed in the upper sides of the hanger arms, and then into second slots in the undersides of the hanger arms. The straps are thereby bound sufficiently to avoid sliding through, and the straps can be pulled through the slots until the points of attachment to the garment are immediately adjacent the arms of the hanger, and are thus held high. A one-piece suit is hung from the shoulder straps in the same manner. Thus by this means, the entire bra or other upper garment can be sup ported high on the hanger arms, with only a few inches of drop therebelow. A one-piece suit is hung differently at the bottom, as will appear presently. The lower garment or trunks ofa twopiece suit, or the bottom ofa one-piece suit, are suspended by running the crotch thereof over a horizontal projecting arm or tongue located under the arms of the hanger, in its medial portion. The waistband of a trunk-type garment is then stretched over outward projections formed on the lower portions of the hanger arms, so that the trunks are doubled or hung in a loop, and so that their vertical hanging distance is reduced, and they also are thus supported high on the hanger. The doubling of the garment, of course, shortens the vertical distance by which it hangs from the hanger arms. A onepiece suit will be seen to hang doubled, between the, crotch bar and the slots or recesses of the hanger arms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view ofa hanger in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the hanger of FIG. 1, showing thereon the lower part or trunks ofa ladies two-piece swimsuit; 7

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the upper part of the swimsuit added to the hanger; and

FIG. 5 is a section to an enlarged scale taken on line 55 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A hanger in accordance with the invention is designated at in the drawings, and comprises a body having two arms 13 extending oppositely and downwardly from an apical medial portion or neck 14 which supports a hook ILTI'IB arms 13 are at an obtuse angle relative, to one another of 25 to 30, preferably, terminating in downwardly curved ends 15 at approximately 45 to horizontal at their extremities. The hanger is fabricated of a suitable plastic material, preferably a thermoplastic, and is made up of a flat web 17, surrounded by or afforded with bracing ribs or beads 18 in a suitable pattern for good bracing, as illustrated.

The arms 13 of the garment hanger are formed, in their upper edge portions, with elongated slats or recesses 20, generally parallel with the arms, and entered via narrowed passages 21, to receive the doubled shoulder straps 22 of the upper garment B, in this case the bra ofa two-piece suit. These recesses 20 are properly spaced for the average shoulder strap spacing to be accommodated. In the undersides of the hanger arms, just under the recesses 20, and parallel therewith, are formed elongated notches or recesses 24, preferably, and in this case, opening under the arms 13 towards the center or apex of the hanger. These notches are defined by fingers 25 formed on the undersides of the arms 13, somewhat inside the curved arm tips 15, and pointing generally upward along the angled arms 15, just below the latter. As shown, the entrance passageways 21 into the recesses 20 are located toward the upper ends of the latter, and the fingers 25 terminate just about in line with the upper ends of the passageways 21, considered in planes at right angles to the arms. The shoulder straps 22 of the bra or other garment to be hung are conveniently first doubled, then entered into the recesses 20 through the passages 21, then moved slightly upwards in the recesses 20, pulled down and engaged over the tips of the fingers 2S, moved edgewise into the notches 24, and then pulled endwise through the recesses 20 and notches 24 until the garment, just below the straps, is immediately adjacent the arms I3. The straps 24 will then be tightly enough bound to assure that the garment will not slip off the hanger. The widths of the recesses or notches 20 and 24 are, of course, made appropriate for the thickness of the shoulder straps to be used therewith to assure a light but adequate binding action. The fingers 25, in this connection being made of plastic, are somewhat resilient, and in the case of a heavy garment, can if the notch is initially made somewhat narrow for the thickness of the straps be designed to resiliently deflect slightly as the straps are pushed into place, so as to afford a resilient damping action on the straps.

The provisions for hanging the lower garment of the twopiece combination are as follows:

The arms 13 at the underside of the hanger, below the neck or apical medial portion 14, are formed with a .wide angle, inverted V-notch 30, preferably at the same included angle made by the arms 13. Across this notch, at a distance of approximately one-half inch below the apex of the wide angle of the notch, and extending horizontally between the arms 13, is a hanger'bar 31. The structure somewhat resembles a flattish or wide-angle letter A, with the bar 31 constituting the cross bar of the A. The width of the triangular recess 32 formed by the notch 30 and the top edge of the bar 31- is conveniently about 3% inches. The bar 31 intersects the arms of the hanger at points very approximately onequarter of the lengths of the arms, measured from the apex of the hanger to the tips of the arms. The bar 31 is divided into two parts of unequal length, 31a and 31b, by a narrow slot 33 near one end. These two parts 31aand 31b merge or join integrally at one end with the arms 13, and in effect increase their widths outside of and below the recess. The opposite ends of the bar parts 31a and 31b are free. The long bar part or tongue 31a is resiliently laterally deflectable to one side or the other. Thus the tongue 31a may be bent open, like a gate, and thrust through the crotch portion 40 of the trunks, designated generally at T. Thus, to hang the trunks, they are held crotch up, the tongue 31a is pushed to one side, threaded through the crotch, and released. The crotch then spreads laterally over onto the bar part 31b, to hang smoothly from substantially the full length of the two-piece bar 31.

The trunks, hanging from the bar 31, are then doubled and lifted, and the waistband 42 thereof hooked over a pair of projections or hooks 44 formed at the opposite ends of the aforementioned fingers 25. The projections 44 are thus on the undersides of the arms 13, and project outward and downward. The waistband of the garment is thus stretched over the hooks 44 and engaged in the notches 45 therebehind. The trunks thus hang smoothly in a doubled, space-saving position between the crotch bar 31 and the waist hooks 44. For trunks of a larger waist size, a pair of wider-spaced waist supporting projections 47 are provided just outside the projections 44.

The case of the one-piece suit need not be illustrated. The bottom end is hung by its crotch over the bar 31, the suit is doubled, and the shoulder straps are laced into and bound by the recesses and 24. if the one-piece suit has a skirt, it may be hooked over the projections 44 or 47.

A neat package of small bulk and small vertical dimensions is thus provided for either type of suit.

It is evident that the hanger is also capable of use as an ordi nary garment hanger for coats, dresses, or shoulder strap garments such as slips.

1 claim:

1. A hanger composed of a plastic material for use in compactly hanging a garment having a crotch at the bottom, including:

a hanger body comprised of an elongated hook-supporting medial portion having oppositely projecting arms;

a hook connected to the center of said medial portion;

a horizontal, crotch-support bar spaced underneath said medial portion and terminating at its ends in the central region of the hanger at spaced points on opposite sides of said hook in general proximity to said medial portion, said bar being integrally joined at both its ends with said hanger body and comprising two separate parts having closely spaced opposed ends defining an entrance slot for insertion and threading thereof through a crotch portion of a garment, said separate parts being of unequal length one of which is resiliently bendable to the side, garmentengaging means on said arms spaced from said medial portion including slots formed in the upper surface portions of and parallel to said arms, said arms including narrow openings leading into said slots from the upper surfaces thereof, elongated recesses formed in the lower surfaces and longitudinally of said arms directly below said slots and opening toward each other, and oppositely and outwardly directed fingers formed on the undersides of said arms outwardly of said recesses, said slots and recesses adapted to engaged garment shoulder strap portions with said fingers adapted to engage with a waistband of a garment while a crotch thereof is supported on said crotch-support bar. 

